video production and news services. There has been a number of blogs and websites that focus on fashion and lifestyle, opinions, analysis and news among others. Local content and local hosting is one way of reducing the access costs. • Zambians consider themselves as fairly democratic among most post-colonial states in the SADC Region. However, they also experience challenges with democratic challenges. Freedom of expression is essential and should not be blocked by state censorship and surveillance unnecessarily. The Zambian government has also introduced a free internet service, internet.org which provides free access to 10 selected websites that facebook hosts. Some of these websites include job-seeking services, easy library which provides access to the constitution of Zambia and women rights issues among others. Despite the negative implications of internet.org on net neutrality Zambia has embraced it as a springboard for access. • Domain control and censorship that is against the principle of freedom of expression should be challenged. The Zambian government sometimes jails journalists and media practitioners who would have stepped on its toes. The Zambia Information and Communication Technology Authority Zambian (ZICTA) at some point blocked access to some websites. However, these websites have re-emerged possibly because the government could not sustain the costs of blocking the sites. • Aid has the potential to distort business but it is not necessarily a bad financing option because the work that goes into online content generation should be paid for. There simply have to be parameters to ensure that aid does not interfere with or disrupt business. For example the platforms that Zambians are accessing for free under internet.org had to be supported by HIVOS and that sort of support is necessary and welcome. • However, there is a need to promote ethical and objective journalism among journalists to maintain high standards of journalism and those practicing irresponsible journalism should be brought to book. • Zambians need to accept that the internet is beginning to show who we are. The internet simply mirrors societies. There is therefore need to address the human issues and not blame the internet for racism, tribalism, exclusion or corruption. • It still remains difficult for Zambian online entrepreneurs for example those involved in online news businesses to make money. There is also a need for stakeholder engagement on issues of Internet Governance in Zambia and make sure that people make profit online. Zambia did not have a payment gateway for online transactions until recently when Barclays Bank introduced the visa payment system. There is need therefore to invest in good, quality and ethical and investigative journalism that attracts the support of advertisers from where the bulk of revenue for online businesses comes from. This has worked well for those websites that are credible and objective in their businesses, which appeals to advertisers. • Going forward, stakeholder engagement is also necessary in Zambia. There is need for Zambians to be in continuous dialogue in order to improve connectivity and to boost online commerce. Zambia is looking forward to some movement relating to an internet governance forum by the end of the year. Panel Discussion Points • It is important not to lose sight of the fact that there are still large numbers of people in Africa who still do not have access to the internet, noting that reports that internet penetration in Africa stands at 20% (Internet Society 2015). • Infrastructure development still remains a challenge in most African countries- there is therefore need to invest in infrastructure development. Only 17 % of the Sub-Saharan Africa’s population was covered by at least 3G internet connection as of 2010 (Internet Society 2015). There is a strong need for stakeholders to be actively involved in matters of Internet INTERNET GOVERNANCE MULTISTAKEHOLDER CONFERENCE REPORT 2015 Governance starting at local district levels in all African countries. As at 2014, 27 countries had launched an Internet Governance Forum at national levels (Internet Society 2015). There are only five countries that have launched IGF at national level in the SADC region as at 2015 (POTRAZ). • The regions’ ICT laws need to be updated and bills that infringe on freedom of expression and limit access to information need to be amended to make these provisions a reality. 032 www.misazim.com @misazimbabwe MISA Zimbabwe